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The Jordan Spieth Thread

A modern day comparison is someone like Luke Donald. In fact, I always felt Luke should win a bunch of times at Augusta, but the one big difference between Spieth and Donald is the mental game. But Donald was the best player in the world for a good amount of time by relying on getting it done around the green.
 
Spieth hits it well passed Donald. Luke had a brief walk in the park at #1 when he got red hot around the greens, but his driving distance being what it is, then add that it was never all that good (accuracy) and he was done. He and Zach Johnson are similar in that regard and Brian Gay to a lesser extent. Great around the greens because they have to be.

Spieth might not be that long, but he ranks inside the top 65 with 290+ where is Donald is closer to 275.
 
tequila4kapp said:
Does Spieth's game - adequate length off the tee, great putter, great course manager, solid short game - remind us of anyone from prior eras?
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Tom Watson?
 
JB said:
Spieth hits it well passed Donald. Luke had a brief walk in the park at #1 when he got red hot around the greens, but his driving distance being what it is, then add that it was never all that good (accuracy) and he was done. He and Zach Johnson are similar in that regard and Brian Gay to a lesser extent. Great around the greens because they have to be.

Spieth might not be that long, but he ranks inside the top 65 with 290+ where is Donald is closer to 275.
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Agreed, people talk about Spieth like he is a short knocker, but he knocks them past 300 when he needs to. He also seems to hit his irons a considerable distance. His game isn't based on length, but I don't think he is short by many standards.
 
Wake said:
Agreed, people talk about Spieth like he is a short knocker, but he knocks them past 300 when he needs to. He also seems to hit his irons a considerable distance. His game isn't based on length, but I don't think he is short by many standards.
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Its because of how its measured (which is absurd). He is 10 yards behind Gary Woodland based on the ridiculous PGA Tour stats I believe.
 
JB said:
Its because of how its measured (which is absurd). He is 10 yards behind Gary Woodland based on the ridiculous PGA Tour stats I believe.
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How is it measured (and what's crazy about it)? Being 10 yards behind Woodland is not such a bad place to be.
 
Wake said:
How is it measured (and what's crazy about it)? Being 10 yards behind Woodland is not such a bad place to be.
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Its only measured on two holes per round and Woodland hits it well passed the number his stat shows.
 
JB said:
Its only measured on two holes per round and Woodland hits it well passed the number his stat shows.
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Gotcha, I did know that. It does seem crazy, since you have no idea what club the player chose to use on those holes. Gary Woodland hits the ball a very long ways, that was a cool event.
 
Aren't there pre-designated holes where they measure it?

The distance thing is part of what got me to thinking about it. He isn't short, he just isn't one of the bombers. His iron play is really good but it wasn't like he was going at every flag either, more like he was precise to areas of the green (i.e., executing to course management).
 
JB said:
Its because of how its measured (which is absurd). He is 10 yards behind Gary Woodland based on the ridiculous PGA Tour stats I believe.
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I always felt like driving distance measurements on tour were silly, given how much of a premium there is on accuracy. He's top 5 in strokes gained tee to green. Makes me think there's more to life than the long ball. Jordan's irons and short game gives him more options off the tee, especially when he has a lead. I was actually surprised he hit driver as often as he did on Sunday.
 
JB said:
Spieth hits it well passed Donald. Luke had a brief walk in the park at #1 when he got red hot around the greens, but his driving distance being what it is, then add that it was never all that good (accuracy) and he was done. He and Zach Johnson are similar in that regard and Brian Gay to a lesser extent. Great around the greens because they have to be.

Spieth might not be that long, but he ranks inside the top 65 with 290+ where is Donald is closer to 275.
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Donald averaged 284 in 2011 when he was on his streak, with 64.29% driving accuracy while Spieth is averaging 292 with 61% driving accuracy. The GIR percentage for both players (Luke in 2011 and Spieth now) is 67% and 66%, respectively. Luke was number 2 at that time in strokes gained tee to green while Spieth is 5. You are correct on Luke's putting, as he was number 1 in strokes gained putting at that time, while Spieth is ranked 4th. Luke held on to #1 WGR for almost a year. I think it's a pretty good comparison.
 
Philly Golf Guy said:
Donald averaged 284 in 2011 when he was on his streak, with 64.29% driving accuracy while Spieth is averaging 292 with 61% driving accuracy. The GIR percentage for both players (Luke in 2011 and Spieth now) is 67% and 66%, respectively. Luke was number 2 at that time in strokes gained tee to green while Spieth is 5. You are correct on Luke's putting, as he was number 1 in strokes gained putting at that time, while Spieth is ranked 4th. Luke held on to #1 WGR for almost a year. I think it's a pretty good comparison.
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If you think its good, it works for me. I can tell you seeing them both live and on the launch monitor that Spieth hits it significantly further than Donald does as his club head speed is 4-5 mph faster than Donald. The measuring that the PGA Tour does, limits how accurate the numbers in driving can be. To give you an example, Mickelson and Spieth are only 4-5 yards apart according to the PGA Tour.

Donald never had the tee game to compete long term at the top and needed a crazy hot putter to get there which he had.
 
You want to know what impressed me the most about his win? The guys on tour and caddies that stuck around to watch. That to me says so much more than him thanking the world. He has the respect of his peers that are all playing hard for themselves. They stuck around like fans waiting for him to finish.

If he top tens this weeks, I will be ready to crown him the next big thing. I expect a tired JS come Thursday. But would love to see him content. Not sure anyone has ever done the double duty after the Masters.
 
I believe I saw a Trackman post on Facebook that showed Spieth clubhead speed has increased from 111 mph in 2014 to 114 mph in 2015. If thats correct, the kid should have no issues keeping up.

Found it.

Jordan Spieth's Average Club Speed (PGA TOUR - ShotLink)
2013 - 111.9 mph
2014 - 111.6 mph
2015 - 114.1 mph
Below is a look back at his optimizer stats from 2012. Spieth is ranked 4th year-to-date in Carry Efficiency (Carry divided by Club Speed) on the PGA TOUR.
 
fupresti said:
I believe I saw a Trackman post on Facebook that showed Spieth clubhead speed has increased from 111 mph in 2014 to 114 mph in 2015. If thats correct, the kid should have no issues keeping up.

Found it.

Jordan Spieth's Average Club Speed (PGA TOUR - ShotLink)
2013 - 111.9 mph
2014 - 111.6 mph
2015 - 114.1 mph
Below is a look back at his optimizer stats from 2012. Spieth is ranked 4th year-to-date in Carry Efficiency (Carry divided by Club Speed) on the PGA TOUR.
Click to expand...

He's also only 21. Never going to be a huge bomber, but he'll have no problem keeping that distance up for a long long time.
 
Pretty cool

 
That is awesome. In an age when common courtesy and manners are too rare, it is great to see this was part of his DNA back before he made it.
 
Did I miss something. I thought this debate was dead. He won a big ball park. that didn't play as fast as it could have. These talking heads that think he isn't long enough need to start talking tiger again, because they can keep up with a real story like Jordan.
fupresti said:
I believe I saw a Trackman post on Facebook that showed Spieth clubhead speed has increased from 111 mph in 2014 to 114 mph in 2015. If thats correct, the kid should have no issues keeping up.

Found it.

Jordan Spieth's Average Club Speed (PGA TOUR - ShotLink)
2013 - 111.9 mph
2014 - 111.6 mph
2015 - 114.1 mph
Below is a look back at his optimizer stats from 2012. Spieth is ranked 4th year-to-date in Carry Efficiency (Carry divided by Club Speed) on the PGA TOUR.
Click to expand...

cbaker2882 said:
He's also only 21. Never going to be a huge bomber, but he'll have no problem keeping that distance up for a long long time.
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I honestly had no idea Jordan was in the Work Grant Program. That probably went a long way towards teaching him some humility. It is a really neat thing our high school does where you essentially work around campus painting, landscaping, etc. and those hours go towards paying for your education.
 
JB said:
If you think its good, it works for me. I can tell you seeing them both live and on the launch monitor that Spieth hits it significantly further than Donald does as his club head speed is 4-5 mph faster than Donald. The measuring that the PGA Tour does, limits how accurate the numbers in driving can be. To give you an example, Mickelson and Spieth are only 4-5 yards apart according to the PGA Tour.

Donald never had the tee game to compete long term at the top and needed a crazy hot putter to get there which he had.
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I think my point is that when Donald was longest with his driver, he became a lot more successful because the rest of his game was above everyone else. Spieth is finding success similarly, yet does not suffer as much as Luke did with driving distance. If we are to look at other players who have achieved a high rate of success with a similar skill set to Spieth, 2011 Donald is up there for me, with the biggest difference being mental poise. Spieth has more distance but 2011 Luke's short game, sand saves and putting were a little better.
 
I am from the camp that LD never should have been #1 in the world not should Westwood or Scott. Because of the way the OWGR are set up, they snagged a piece of the pie and didn't have the game to keep it. Outside of Scott, who has a major, the other two got really lucky TW feel so fast from the top spot.

Jordan has a more complete game IMO and will fight Rors for that top spot with wins and top 10 finishes. Something LD could and has not really managed to do since holding the top spot.

Philly Golf Guy said:
I think my point is that when Donald was longest with his driver, he became a lot more successful because the rest of his game was above everyone else. Spieth is finding success similarly, yet does not suffer as much as Luke did with driving distance. If we are to look at other players who have achieved a high rate of success with a similar skill set to Spieth, 2011 Donald is up there for me, with the biggest difference being mental poise. Spieth has more distance but 2011 Luke's short game, sand saves and putting were a little better.
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Tadashi70 said:
You want to know what impressed me the most about his win? The guys on tour and caddies that stuck around to watch. That to me says so much more than him thanking the world. He has the respect of his peers that are all playing hard for themselves. They stuck around like fans waiting for him to finish.

If he top tens this weeks, I will be ready to crown him the next big thing. I expect a tired JS come Thursday. But would love to see him content. Not sure anyone has ever done the double duty after the Masters.
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It was nice to see several players congratulate him as he went from 18 green to the tent. Zach Johnson was one of those. I now like ZJ more than I used to. haha.

I am also expecting Jordan to have a down week. But, for him, that probably means a T3.

The last Master's champ to play the next week was Zach, in 2007. He finished T6. Not too shabby considering the whirlwind week they are put through. I may have to put Spieth on my fantasy team this week. :angel:
 
Tadashi70 said:
I am from the camp that LD never should have been #1 in the world not should Westwood or Scott. Because of the way the OWGR are set up, they snagged a piece of the pie and didn't have the game to keep it. Outside of Scott, who has a major, the other two got really lucky TW feel so fast from the top spot.

Jordan has a more complete game IMO and will fight Rors for that top spot with wins and top 10 finishes. Something LD could and has not really managed to do since holding the top spot.
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Luke was # 1 in the world for 56 weeks, which is longer than Price, Woosnam, Vijay, and almost as long as Seve and almost twice as long as Scott and Westwood, combined. He was PGA player of the year and won both the US and Euro money titles the same season. To me, he was on another level than Scott or Westwood. His success was attributable to more than getting hot with the putter; his game was top ranked in all areas, except for driving distance, showing just how competitive you can be if you have an excellent all around game yet lag in driving distance.

What I think this means for Spieth, whose mental game is superior to Luke and has more distance yet still not top ranked distance, is that a higher overall game does very well against pure distance and is more than enough for a prolific career.

I think Morning Drive was discussing that when you look at players like Spieth and Ko, who excel in many areas without distance standing out, and how successful they've been, there could be a shift in golf instruction, but I have no idea about that.

To me though, Luke is one of if not the best modern day examples of a successful competitive career without being long. His game has since deflated in all categories, except sand saves. He is shorter, less accurate and a worse putter now, again showing that his lack of success isn't just one category.

And that's what I'm excited about a budding Spieth/Rory rivalry. Rory has a brilliant tee game and ball striking while Spieth is a superb course manager, executing whatever he needs to. Two different styles for sure, and both a lot of fun to watch.
 
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